The Stradivari G2 was introduced to the trade press during High End 2023 as a commemorative 40th-anniversary model of the famous Italian brand. Not at the show itself, but hors-concours, in the luxury of the Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel in downtown Munich, including food and drink for the journalists and distributors, or amuse-bouche, if you like, as it sounds more refined in French and more accordingly to the general atmosphere of the hotel.
Hificlube published both on Facebook and in our show report the first pictures and sounds of this extraordinary 'remake' of an immortal classic: Franco Serblin's Stradivari. And I promised there and then that I would come back to the topic.
Franco and the Stradivari
The presentation of the original Stradivari in Vicenza in 2003 by master Franco Serblin, who sadly passed away in 2013, was one of the highlights of my long career as a critic, always dealing with the delicate and controversial subject of high-end audio.
Franco Serblin presents Stradivari (Vicenza, 2003)
The G2s retain the high-quality woodwork and fine finishes of the original model but now have a pentagonal shape rather than elliptical, which Sonus Faber says further enhances the listening experience.
Note: Nostalgic readers can read my 5-part report on the 2003 presentation of the Stradivari here.
The G2 has have a pentagonal shape rather than elliptical
According to Sonus faber's press release, the original Stradivari, as the name suggests, was inspired by the art of violin maker Antonio Stradivari, while the G2 is said to be the visionary union of a dream realised by Franco Serblin with current electroacoustic engineering techniques that challenge the boundaries of innovation.
The G2s retain the high-quality woodwork and fine finishes of the original model but now have a pentagonal shape rather than elliptical, which Sonus Faber says further enhances the listening experience.
Livio Cucuzza, the man responsible for redesigning the Stradivari and yours truly (Munich, 2023)
Livio Cucuzza, the man responsible for redesigning the Stradivari, admits that it was a fascinating challenge, and I quote from the press-release:
“How do we recreate a product that continues to stand the test of time and has almost become an artifact? For this, we needed to figure out how to bring Stradivari into this generation of Sonus faber. We wanted to ensure that the new Stradivari represented all the advancements Sonus faber has made in sound technology to date, while still keeping the brand’s classic external look and feel.”
Here are some of the new key features:
- Low Frequency Adjuster: a system feature that provides full control over ultra-low frequency tuning, generating an unprecedented sound experience and optimizing room response without compromise.
Note: LFA technology allows for mechanical control of the resonance peak of the two woofers without the need to add new elements to the low-pass filter.
- Anti-Resonant Basket: a woofer basket specially designed to prevent vibration modes generated by the diaphragm.
Note: The woofer basket is 3D printed with an asymmetric structure that vibrates in opposition to the modes generated by the diaphragm, eliminating mechanical resonances.
The woofer basket is 3D printed with an asymmetric structure (photo courtesy Sonus faber)
- Clepsydra Technology: a reflex port designed in the shape of an hourglass to maximize low-frequency descent performance, reducing the length of the tube.
Note: The hourglass-shaped reflex port reduces standing waves inside the tube and fires downwards, facilitating room placement and reinforcing bass down to 25Hz.
Stradivari G2 internal structure
- INTONO Technology: a feature that ensures the most natural possible reproduction of mid frequencies, significantly reducing the size and number of components in the crossover filter.
Note: This is a second port, not connected to the outside, that connects the midrange speaker chamber to a larger interior cavity at the top to minimize air pressure generated at the back of the diaphragm, mechanically controlling it without increasing the number of filter components.
The Stradivari G2s are now 3 1/2-way and the drivers are all new: a tripod DAD Arrow Point tweeter, a 5.9-inch midrange driver and two 10-inch quarter-wave woofers.
And the sound? readers ask me. The sound is so different from the original that you could say they are different speakers, the only similarities being the name and the wide, curved baffle. Even the violin finish is a more vibrant shade of red and more reflective too. Let's just say they sound like they look. And how do they compare?
Manuel Dias cheers with Port wine to the Stradivari (original). Lisbon, 2004
Stradivari at the Meridien in Lisbon (2004)
Here is what I wrote about the original Stradivari in DN in 2004, when it was presented at the Meridien Hotel, as Imacustica did not yet have a shop in Lisbon, in an article entitled 'Porto de Honra' (click to read in Portuguese), from which I will copy a few passages:
A certain harshness in the mids (clapping echo effect) that was noticeable with some CDs, and an obvious resonance in the bass that was as much the fault of the room as of the speakers (it is not easy to set up full-range speakers in a huge room with 'nasty modes' and achieve optimal results in such a short time).
However, the quality of the Stradivari effortlessly overcame this acoustic disadvantage and allowed us to concentrate exclusively on their remarkable musical abilities...
...The Stradivari have an inner peace that they transmit to the listener through music with temporal coherence, tonal integrity and tonal richness, as perceived by the human ear, not necessarily to measuring instruments.
The Stradivari have exhausted my catalogue of platitudes and hyperboles by redefining the concept of acoustic realism and transparency, particularly in the way they reproduce 'decay', the last breath of sound before it dies away into silence.
Paradoxically, a loudspeaker that can reproduce real life so well that instruments and voices stand out in space with a high, startling effect has also proven that it can reproduce the death of sounds superbly. There are other speakers capable of this impressive realism. But like the wax figures in Madame Tussauds Museum, they can sometimes make us feel uneasy because they have no soul, like the corpses in the cold stone of the morgue.
Stradivari G2 driven by McIntosh heavy artillery. Munich, 2023
Stradivari G2 at the Kempinsky in Munich (2023)
So far, I have only heard the Stradivari G2 in Munich, in a hotel room and in a festive atmosphere, and not in one of Imacustica's listening rooms, as I would have liked.
As for the originals, Manuel Dias imported a pair only four months after they were announced. But times have changed: There are fewer wealthy audiophiles who have the financial means to invest 50,000 euros in a pair of speakers, and the few who do exist are all well-served, so any new purchase means a trade-off and complicated negotiations.
So I have decided to write about the Stradivari G2s right now, even with the few details I have, because I have no guarantee that there will be a pair in Portugal any time soon. And it is important to me to celebrate 40 years of Sonus faber, as many as I have had in my career, a path we have travelled together.
From the side, the G2 seems like an open-baffled dipole.
The internal structure of the Stradivari G2 has changed a lot. The result is a more solid, better projected, and dynamic sound. The bass has a control and attack that makes the originals sound slow by comparison.
The spirituality of the originals is now replaced by the physicality of the G2; the baroque orchestra spirit with ancient instruments is replaced by the power of the large orchestras of the Romantic period; the ineffable veil of art is replaced by the transparency of raw truth. G2 is thus a more modern speaker, better able to reflect the current universality of music: from classical to jazz, from hip-hop to rock.
The new internal structure may have taken away the ‘anima’, a piece of wood in violins that connects the front panel to the back panel, but it did not take away its soul, which is now just more assertive and less demure.
I'll leave you with a few excerpts from the various pieces I heard in Munich, in the hope that you'll join me in a 'petition' asking Imacustica to import a pair of Stradivari G2s.
Note: all audio recordings were made in the room, directly from the Stradivari G2, using a portable Nagra recorder at 24/96. The video images are merely illustrative and were obtained later.
If I had the money, I would buy myself a pair to enjoy in my living room. Unlike the original Stradivari, they would not evoke nostalgic feelings of the passing of time, but instead provide a guarantee of endless satisfaction, even if in an uncertain and alas, too brief future.
Photo courtesy of Sonus faber